Errata is a web journal written by Robert Davis who has neither spent a night in a ghost town nor pulled a turnip from the earth. He doesn't even know if turnips grow in the ground. Perhaps on trees, like candy corn. Therefore, Errata is a non-commercial project.

Observation #1: It may be appropriate, when leaving a movie theater, to say "mysterious."

Observation #2: It may be appropriate, when leaving a movie theater, to say "mysterious" at the top of your lungs. Bring your eyebrows together before you say it. Effective!

Observation #3: Same for books. Even at libraries.

There is a prize for people who correctly guess the thing about Metropolis, Nevada.

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11 October 2004

Going Upriver

I'm not sure how legit this link is, but those who may be interested can download and watch George Butler's documentary Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry.

I saw the film in Toronto and was pleasantly surprised. I went in with low expectations, having recently grown as tired as most everybody else of slapped together political diatribes. I'm talking about movies like The Hunting of the President (or as I prefer to call it, crap), Harry Thomason's film about the attacks against Bill Clinton in the 90s, a movie that operates well below the importance of its material and insults the audience at every turn. Actually, maybe "tired" isn't the right word, because I certainly think some of these topics are worth exploring but calmly, reasonably, logically, and with some sense of how movies work. Maybe "frustrated" is better.

Well Going Upriver isn't slapped together, and Butler's previous movies shouldn't lead anyone to think it would be. Pumping Iron and The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition were both fine documentaries, and so is this one.

Granted it has an agenda. And its opening minutes may lead you believe that it's going to be a syrupy-sweet hagiography, like something that might be projected at the Democratic National Convention. It has nothing bad to say about John Kerry, that's for sure, but I found the context that it provides for Kerry's post-war activism — the focus of the movie — to be quite valuable, especially given how many of Kerry's quotes from that period have been bandied about (two?) repeatedly on national TV. Context and information are good. Don't let a fear of bias keep you away from them.

Finally, it's nice to be in the hands of a strong filmmaker, simply for aesthetic reasons. The movie is well-paced and features great footage of Vietnam (which I suspect is color-enhanced by computers and, anyway, looks a lot better at your local theater than in the above download) and revealing footage of Kerry speaking — clearly, passionately, and persuasively — at rallies of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and on talk shows like Dick Cavett. It also features plenty of talking heads, including Bobby Muller who spoke memorably about his war experiences in Hearts and Minds and hasn't lost a bit of his spark. He was eloquent at the post-screening Q&A in Toronto and obviously cares greatly about his country.

(Via Population: One)

Posted by davis | Link

Reader Comments

October 14, 2004, 11:56 AM

Doug

Thanks for posting your comments on this, Robert. I know what you mean about feeling wary toward films about political personalities at the moment, and I wasn't sure of what to expect from this, so it's good to know that it has some value.

October 14, 2004, 01:16 PM

davis

Yeah, it's not bad at all. Doug, you have to start calling me Rob. "Robert" is for copyright notices and bylines and whatnot. :-)

October 14, 2004, 11:27 PM

Doug

Heh, I've always called you Rob, so I don't know why I suddenly changed that. :)

October 15, 2004, 09:18 AM

girish

Hey Rob--Nice tip. I haven't seen "Pumping Iron" but I did enjoy the Shackleton documentary. The Kerry doc just opened in town.

Another political doc on DVD that I watched recently and really liked was "The Weather Underground". You've probably seen it?

October 16, 2004, 02:00 AM

davis

Girish, I have been trying to catch The Weather Underground for a while now, but obviously not hard enough. It played at the San Francisco festival last year, then had a brief run at a theatre just a few blocks from my house(!), and since then has popped up at the rep houses a couple of times.

I see that it's on DVD. I'll add it to the queue.

October 16, 2004, 03:25 AM

davis

Doug, I'm sure it was just a momentary lapse of informality. This site is currently set to allow up to three such lapses before it starts denying access, so you're good.

I used to work for a guy who went by Jonathan, and the office manager could filter his phone calls by rejecting anyone who asked to speak to Jon. Good trick. The funny thing is that just a couple of weeks ago in the news I saw an open letter to this Jonathan from some rival company. But it was addressed to Jon. :-) Will it be ignored?

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